London, March 01: A Bangladeshi Islamic militant working for British Airways has been found guilty of plotting to blow up a plane after conspiring with radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
He was “committed to an extreme jihadist and religious cause” and was “determined to seek martyrdom”, jurors were told.
The Bangladeshi national, who moved with his wife and son to Newcastle in north-east England in 2006, had admitted being involved in the production of a terrorist group’s video, fundraising and volunteering for terror abroad.
Karim, a privately educated computer worker from a middle-class family in Dhaka, was lured into becoming a staunch supporter of a radical organisation called Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh by his younger brother, Tehzeeb.
The jury found him guilty of plotting to blow up an aircraft, sharing information of use to al-Awlaki, offering to help financial or disruptive attacks on BA and gaining a job in Britain to exploit terrorist purposes.
The prosecution said Karim started to communicate in late 2009 with al-Awlaki, who is believed to have been hiding in Yemen since 2007.
Karim, who showed no emotion as the jury delivered their verdict, had argued that he moved to Britain only to seek treatment for his son, whom he feared had bowel cancer.
He will be sentenced on March 18.
——–Agencies